Happy Nurses Week to all nurses – which started Tuesday, May 6, 2025 and ends on Florence Nightingale’s birthday, Monday May 12, 2025. This year’s theme is “The Power of Nurses”, and this is evidenced as nurses use their knowledge, skills, and abilities to ensure patients receive the care they need.
“The Power of Nurses” was seen with nurses supporting Act 68 Nurse Licensure Compact Act (July 1, 2024) and Act 79 of 2024 “FBI-Approved Language to Implement Licensure Compacts”, (July 17, 2024).
Full implementation of Nurse Licensure Compact is finally expected to begin in Pennsylvania in 2025, possibly as soon as this summer, for Pennsylvania’s nearly 300,000 nurses (240,521 RN’s and 45,000 LPNs)! Nurses across Pennsylvania and nursing organizations, including the Pennsylvania Organization for Nurse Leaders (PONL) and Pennsylvania State Nurses Association (PSNA), campaigned for the legislation that will allow all eligible registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in Pennsylvania nurses to apply for multistate licenses (MSL).
To prepare employers for this major rollout, Pennsylvania’s State Board of Nursing posted on its website the upcoming free webinar – “What Nurse Employers Need to Know” May 13, 2025, 3:00 pm Eastern Time. Click here to Register This “webinar for nurse employers provides an overview of the NLC, answers questions nurse employers have, explains the 60-day residency rule, provides an implementation update and explains Nursys.com and Nursys e-Notify”.
Many administrative and governing entities, including Pennsylvania’s Department of State, the FBI and Department of Justice, and Pennsylvania’s State Board of Nursing (PA-SBN) have been working diligently for to prepare for full implementation of the NLC.
Changes and additions have been made to the Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS), which is used by nurses to apply for and renew their professional license. PALS had to be reconfigured to interface with the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) database. These changes will allow the PA-SBN the technological capability to issue multistate licenses.
The Department of State “received channeling approvals with Idemia” to manage healthcare licensees’ FBI Criminal History checks and this will roll out in June, 2025. (Testimony of Dept. of State, Bureau of Professional & Occupational Affairs to PA House Professional Licensure Committee, Apr. 8, 2025.)
Pennsylvania’s State Board of Nursing wrote the Annex (legislative changes based on Act 68 and Act 79 of 2024) that will be integrated into the nursing regulations in Title 49, CHAPTER 21. STATE BOARD OF NURSING, A. REGISTERED NURSES … 21.1, and B. PRACTICAL NURSES … 21.141 . In Fall 2024, the PA-SBN Board sent a Draft Annex to nurse stakeholders in Pennsylvania seeking input and questions. No changes were made to the Draft Annex and it was approved by the PA-SBN Board (PA-SBN Board minutes December 12, 2024). Final regulations will be published in the RN and LPN regulations at the time that Nurse Licensure Compact is fully implemented.
What does multistate license (MSL) mean for PA’s nurses? When full implementation of the NLC occurs, all existing RN and LPN Pennsylvania licenses issued by the State Board of Nursing prior to implementation, shall be converted to single state licenses. If nurses with existing single state licenses at that time want to obtain an MSL, and they meet eligibility requirements*, they will need to file an application for an MSL and pay the one-time conversion fee. The new regulations will also detail how new graduates can apply for a single state license or an MSL.
*According to the Annex, applicants for an MSL a) must not have been convicted, found guilty or entered into an agreed disposition for any felony offense or misdemeanor offense related to the practice of nursing; b) must not have an encumbered license in another state; and c) must not be currently enrolled in an alternative program.
Applicants for an MSL must have Pennsylvania as their primary state of residence (PSOR), however, once issued the MSL, they will be able to work in all of the 43 Nurse Licensure Compact states, based on each states’ implementation criteria.
The many other changes for nurses to obtain MSL to the nurse licensure regulations will be detailed on the PA-SBN website once full implementation of the Nurse Licensure Compact occurs.
Pennsylvania’s nurses can thank many individuals and agencies for the work that has occurred and continues to be done until full implementation is rolled out. A special acknowledgement should be given to Senator Lisa Boscola and Representative Frank Burns for introducing the two pieces of legislation, to former Governor Wolf for enacting Act 68 , and to Governor Shapiro for signing Act 79 of 2024 into law and supporting forward progress towards Nurse Licensure Compact.
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Mary O'Connor, PhD, MSN, RN
Professor Emeritus, PennWest University, California campus
Pennsylvania Organization of Nurse Leaders (PONL), Legislative Committee
